A vehicle rear body structure is known in which a rear bulkhead is interposed between left and right rear wheel houses, an upper end of the rear bulkhead is coupled to a damper attaching portion of the rear wheel house, and an upper part of a shock absorber (hereinafter, referred to as a “damper”) is coupled to the damper attaching portion of the rear wheel house.
This vehicle rear body structure is configured to support a load input from the damper by increasing a plate thickness of the damper attaching portion (for example, see Patent Literature 1).
In the vehicle rear body structure disclosed in Patent Literature 1, however, since the plate thickness of damper attaching portion is increased, an increase in vehicle weight is not suppressed. Further, it is difficult to favorably support the load input from the damper merely by increasing the plate thickness of the damper attaching portion, and the damper attaching portion may be deformed by the load input from the damper.
In addition, a vehicle rear body structure is known in which damper attaching portions of left and right rear wheel houses are reinforced by a box body and a damper is coupled to a bottom of the box body and the damper attaching portion. An opening is formed in a ceiling portion of the box body, and the damper is coupled to the bottom of the box body and the damper attaching portion using the opening.
When the damper attaching portion is reinforced by the box body, rigidity of the damper attaching portion can be increased (for example, see, Patent Literature 2).
In the vehicle rear body structure disclosed in Patent Literature 2, the opening is formed in the ceiling portion of the box body. Therefore, ideas to increase the plate thickness of the box body are required as a means of securing the rigidity of the box body. However, when the plate thickness of the box body is increased, an increase in vehicle weight is not suppressed, resulting in leaving room for improvement from this viewpoint.